Source: TH
Context: LIGO-India, a new gravitational-wave observatory, is set to put India on the research map and contribute to our understanding of the Universe.
- Currently, there are two LIGO setups in the US, and a third one will be built in the Hingoli district of Maharashtra, India. The facility’s construction is expected to be completed by 2030.
LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory) is a physics experiment designed to detect gravitational waves, which are ripples in the fabric of spacetime caused by massive objects in accelerated motion.
What are Gravitational Waves?
Gravitational waves are ripples in the fabric of space and time that travel at the speed of light. They are created by the motion of massive objects, such as black holes or neutron stars, which generate gravitational waves when they orbit or collide with each other.
According to Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity, any object with mass warps the space-time around it. When two massive objects orbit each other or collide, they produce ripples or waves in space-time that propagate outward at the speed of light.
Gravitational waves are extremely weak and difficult to detect. They were first directly detected by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) in 2015, a century after they were predicted by Einstein’s theory.
Know more about LIGO-India: Here
